The Learning Curve
by hugoGrant
Summary: Levi thought he knew himself. [Levi x Petra]. Teacher AU - some references to the 104th corps.
1. Prologue

Levi knew everything about himself. He was the definition of a self-made man and did not need anything from anybody.

He didn't know why he became a teacher. After all, he never had an affinity towards the high school brats he dealt with daily. All he liked was the subject, and that he could have followed elsewhere.

Thus, when Levi learned of the summer program and how he was forced to partake, he felt horrible at the loss of three months of bliss. Now he'd have to wake up and drive and teach and shrug and drive back and grade during his three months.

On the first day of the summer school program, Levi walked into class early as if it were the first day of school. The class which would enter in thirty or so minutes was full of failures and two aspiring students. All were going to be taught pre-calculus all day. Few would pass happily. Fewer would leave wanting a recommendation from Levi.

Leaving his stuff in the classroom, Levi ran to the office to pick up his papers.

Unfortunately he was greeted by Hange. "Hey, you met the new secretary?"

"What?"

"She's new… remember, the old one is on vacation…"

"Oh." Not that he cared.

"She's great." _She._ Was Hange being implicit again? Today of all days? "She organized everybody's paper's and …" Levi blocked off the noises as he realized that Hange wasn't shipping.

Levi reached his desk as Hange left him. On the desk was a small, neat folder. In it, Levi found everything about his classes - all the plans he posted, a fresh gradebook, new attendance sheets and the worksheets he would have had to copy during lunch.

On the inside back cover, Levi found a pink post-it note with black pen written on it:

"Morning Levi (I hope you don't mind - Mr. Ackermann sounded wrong),

I hope you find this exactly as you need this. I will try to have similar things everyday - don't worry, there are only five of you guys, it's not that hard. Tell me if there's anything I can do for you.

Have a great day,

Petra (new secretary)"

Levi almost had to steady himself. There were levels of chirpiness which anybody could see as inhuman - Hange proved it. Now the building seemed to have another Hange. At least this Hange couldn't creep up and bother him at any time.

Levi took the post-it off and wrote a messy "Thanks." on it and folded it onto his desk. Earlier than usual, Levi got to his classroom.

"Morning. Levi, right?" A new voice. If it were the secretary, it would have to be chirpier, so it must be one of the aspiring students.

"Mr. Ackermann."

"Sorry, I thought… That means you didn't like the note either…" Note? Levi messed that up.

"Levi's fine. I thought you were a student."

"Oh." Petra paused. "You're the only math teacher, right?"

"Yeah…" Wasn't she the secretary? Shouldn't she know?

"I want to be a math teacher." Levi's face read 'so' more blatantly than times square's advertisements. "I was wondering if you could tell me anything…"

"How…" The 'old are you' completing the sentence would've been rude, leaving Levi pausing for an alternative. Why did he care?

"This is my summer after high school." Petra completed the sentence.

"Just learn in college." Levi did not want to talk.

Petra turned to leave. "Thanks… And can I drop by if I have the time?"

"Just stay quiet." Petra began to walk. "Thanks for the… uh…" Levi lifted the folder, thoughts interrupted by a surging panic at Hange's arrival.

"See you…" Petra walked away.

"SO! You met the secretary!" Hange erupted. Levi shrugged. "What did you think, huh?" Shrugs. "C'mon! Isn't she great! I mean, she got all this stuff! WOW!"

"Maybe."

"C'mon! She's cool! And she's into math!" Shipping?

"Shut up." Hange looked unconvinced. "It's only been half an hour."

"AND YOU DON'T HATE HER!" Why did he not hate her. He was normally rude and unapproachable. Petra - her name as well; since when did he remember names - must have gotten to know that by now. Maybe he was scared of hurting her - that was it, she seemed delicate. After that chirpy note? So like a bird. A simile. What was his mind doing?

The day resumed. The class was the same old nonsense. Petra did not walk in on it, which left Levi happy - one less person to deal with.

The next morning was similar, only that neither Petra nor Hange bothered Levi. Yet, at the end of lunch, Levi found Petra waiting at the classroom. Petra sat quietly in the shadows, which due to her appearance - the chirpy bloody colors - ceased to be in shade. Petra ceased to exist as despite her appearance, she disappeared into her quiet watching. In fact, nobody in the class noticed her. Maybe because all but two were retarded. Thus, when she walked out, everybody was surprised to see her.

"She just wants an example of perfect teaching. Now focus." Levi dismissed the distraction.

The days proceeded in a similar way as the pre-calculus class and Levi learned to ignore Petra. The fact that Petra ever showed up surfaced only when Hange came to know.

"YOU LET HER SIT IN ON YOUR CLASS?!"

"Why not?"

"But…" Hange's image of Levi, cast into super-humanity, broke.

"She's quiet enough."

"Why did you…"

"She asked."

"And? Even I asked!"

"You're annoying, she's not."

"You…" Hange knew that she was Levi's greatest friend. Yet, Hange was considered annoying while Petra was not. Was there a level higher than friend in Levi's relationships? "Do you like her?"

"No."

"But…"

"No." Hange knew when to stop.

"Maybe you could be like friends or something."

"No."

"Why?"

"She'll disappear in two months."

"So what?"

Levi shrugged and walked away.

Over the two months Levi learned how not to hate somebody. That's what he called it. The reason he felt special towards Petra was because she was the one he could not hate. Because he normally hated everybody, the feelings he had for her must be normal feelings anybody has for anybody else. If only the rest of the world were like that.


	2. Calculus BC

Four summers passed. Somehow, Hange might have been right - he should have become friends with Petra - he missed not hating her.

After this fourth annoying summer, Levi got more work - he had to come up with a calculus BC course. Two class worths of students made it above AB and thus the school needed to offer another course. Being the best mathematician, Levi was chosen. Over the summer, while teaching another precalculus class, Levi re-learned calculus.

Erwin, the principle, offered Levi an assistant teacher. Nobody in the math department volunteered to work with Levi, and thus the job fell to a newbie. This left Levi foreboding but optimistic. Levi worried about finding another Hange but looked forward to another Petra. What if it were Petra herself? Shouldn't she be done with college? Why did he care?

This morning, Erwin arranged for the two BC teachers to meet at the school. Levi was greeted in the school by an uncanny emptiness, amplified by the usual noise Levi hated.

"Morning Levi." Erwin welcomed him into an office. It was the school's second conference room - the most bland and neutral place imaginable.

"Hi."

"The new teacher is on her way." _Her._ Levi knew the gender divide of his job, but was there a hint at 'her'? "Keep an open mind." Levi feared his mind was becoming too open.

A ginger figure walked by the door. She - as Levi came to realize - paused and turned back. There was something in the way she moved… "Morning Erwin, … Levi, right?" The figure had entered as Levi tried to map her movement and she now extended a hand toward him.

"Morning." Levi said, shaking her hand.

"Levi, meet Petra." Again, his own world opened up. "I'll leave you two to sort out the course. Have fun." Erwin left.

Levi turned to Petra. Inspecting her face, he asked "Haven't I seen you before?"

"Um… I did come as a secretary…"

"Ah, four summers ago?" Levi was pretending to be curious, and he did not know why - he knew the answers.

"Uh.. yeah."

"Great." With that Levi and Petra determined the course. They had an AP test to follow and thus merely discussed chapter division, the textbook and the testing.

Much to his happiness, Levi found that his colleague was as agreeable as he remembered.

At the end of their meet, a mere two hour discussion - probably because Petra did not want to speak up against Levi - Petra asked if Levi could sit in on her first hour teaching. Both teachers had the same subjects - pre-calculus and BC, so Levi was the best person to ask. Levi agreed, realizing that he did not mind becoming friends with the new teacher - after all, he didn't hate her.

Thus the next day, Levi came to see the new teacher's first class. Levi did not know what to expect. Even if he had the strongest, most final impressions of people, he could not predict how they would teach - Hange somehow maintained a good AP bio class.

"M-morning." Petra looked distinctly nervous. It was noticeable everywhere. Her steps were slow, her voice stuttered quietly and her eyes were never still.

"Hey." Petra looked at Levi, unsure of what to do. It had already become apparent that her mentor was not the most sociable person. Yet, she was nervous.

"First class of the first day, huh?"

Other than rolling his eyes at the unnecessary, obvious, redundant statement, Levi did not know what to do.

"Any tips?"

"Don't mess up."

It was Petra's turn to roll her eyes at redundancy.

"Don't worry, either you'll do fine or you'll learn."

"Thanks."

Levi sat down at the back and Petra took to the teacher's desk - her first. Soon the class streamed in. Petra introduced herself as did the class. There were a few familiar faces for Levi - Eren the brat, Mikasa the genius, Armin the creative, Annie the quiet, Marco the friendly, Jean the annoying, Sasha the glutton and Connie the stupid.

The class went off without a hitch. Petra introduced the grading and announced the future test on AB. Textbooks were handed out and the homework assigned. Then Petra realized that half an hour remained. An hour was quite a long time. Yet, without missing a beat, Petra moved into the review class which was planned for the next day. Thus the class differentiated longer rational or composite functions and all went fine.

"That went too well." Levi gested about the early finish, noting to plan more for his class.

"Thanks."

With that Petra became an official teacher. It felt like it - she officially taught a class all on her own. The next hour, with the training wheels off, was a little worse as the student's were not as good, but still a great hour passed. Before Petra knew, she was walking out after her first day.

The week went by similarly - Levi and she agreed on homework assignments and made surprising small-talk online or in the corridor.

That Saturday, Petra was startled by her phone ringing. It was 8:00. As Petra wondered about a governmental ban on calls before 10:00, Levi's voice came on the answering machine. "Hey, I need to come by…"

Hearing the voice and a hint of urgency, Petra rolled over and picked up. "What?"

"We haven't made next week's test and I can't do it later."

"Wh- why?"

"Shit."

"What do you…"

"My roommates have shit to get done…"

"Can't I come…" Petra was uncomfortable with the idea of a near-stranger coming to her place with short notice.

"No… place's is a shithole. Where do you stay?"

"12 Avalon watch."

"Near the school?"

"Yeah."

"I'll be there in like twenty… If you don't mind."

Despite herself, Petra grunted. "Sure."

Sighing, Petra wondered whether this was what she signed up for. She rolled over and got up to do her morning routine.

Precisely twenty minutes later, her doorbell rang. "Morning."

"Hey."

"So how much time do we have?"

"Like 90 minutes."

"Ok…" Petra let Levi in and entered the kitchen. Emerging with coffee and some toast, Petra offered Levi breakfast.

"It's ok, I had mine earlier."

"So, are we going to use anything from the ap tests?"

"Duh."

"You got anything?"

As Levi nodded negatively, Petra turned on her laptop. In two minutes she logged on to the AP site.

"Can I have some of the coffee?" Levi found himself asking.

Petra got up and passed him a mug. "Have at." Despite his normally scathing judgement upon coffees, Levi found himself liking the liquid mixture. Petra sat down and opened up an old test.

In forty minutes, Levi and Petra mashed together 5 AP tests, changing the answers slightly. "So why did you have to come now?" Petra asked as they saved the final edition in three different places.

"Isabel had signed me up for some stupid mentoring thing."

"And you couldn't leave it?"

"Yeah…"

"Isabel's your roommate?" Petra tried not to gape when Levi nodded - she couldn't imagine many females (or humans) wanting to live with Levi.

Soon Levi departed with a "See you."

"Don't make this a habit." Levi nodded, turned and exited.

As he drove away, he began to wonder what it was that connected him to this Petra. Other than the fortunate fact that she couldn't be hated, Petra was nobody special. Maybe friend material.

Petra wondered the same about her view on the quirky man who she welcomed in. Why did he come? Afterall, Petra could've gotten up at ten and made the test herself. Collaboration maybe? And why did she lead him here? Probably because it was way too early for her to think. Would she end up befriending this weirdo? He wasn't a bad person…


	3. Getting to know you

Pre-calculus was a bad course. The system needed it because of the decadence of algebra two, which left too many gaps in a student's knowledge for calculus. Then again, if time was not wasted in geometry, pre-calculus could just disappear. May geometry was the fundamental flaw. Or this stretched back into middle school's 'glorified baby-sitting.'

Either way, Petra did not like teaching the stupid function transformations she had to cover for the first month. The only way to apply this was through the contrived exercises of the textbook. Even stupider were the "f(2x) = x^2 find f(x)." type problems. Those made minimal sense. Intuitively, the lucky student would find that f(x) was (x^2)/4, but there was no simple explanation.

A month of teaching in and experience did not help. One evening, Petra learned that years of experience did not help. It was 5:30 and after a busy day, Petra was leaving the school. She stayed back to talk to Erwin - he wondered how his latest recruit was faring.

As Petra left, she found Levi in his classroom teaching a student the contrived transformations. Petra grew inquisitive and trying to see if there was a better way to teach these, she snuck into the class.

Levi did not notice. He continued explaining the memorized patterns. His explanation was interesting. Petra followed the partial math on the board with f(x), g(x) and h(x) and t's and g-inverses scattered all over the board.

"M-mr. Ackerman, I must go now." The student said.

Levi nodded. "You understand now?"

"Yes."

"f(x) = 3(x-9)^2 + 5. Describe it."

The student stammered the correct response as Levi turned to pack up his stuff. Turning and looking up, he saw the orange hair he came to not hate. "Hi."

"Hey."

"What's up?"

"That explanation was cool."

"Thanks." Levi paused and looked as his phone. After muttering curses, he asked "Can you give me a ride?"

"I walked, but if you came over…" Petra did have nothing to do this evening.

"If you don't mind…"

"Why not?"

"You could be…" Levi interrupted himself realizing the rhetorical nature of the question. Petra smirked and led him towards the back door of the school.

The teachers discussed their classes and BC. Petra was happy to have a great mentor, the mentor was happy to have somebody he did not hate.

Soon, Levi found himself in Petra's mint-condition car. The car was untouched as it was only necessary to use in emergencies or other circumstances, such as the one unfolding.

Petra pulled up to Levi's house, a single, detached building which dwarfed Petra's apartment. "Why don't you come in?" Levi asked, himself wondering why he made that offer - it felt right.

Petra shrugged then exited and locked her car. Levi knocked on the front door. An energetic female figure threw the door open. "Isabel, Petra; Petra, Isabel."

"Hi! I've heard a lot about you!" That Levi talked about her was surprising. "Don't be surprised! Big bro is quite a talkative person, you know."

"Sure…" Petra wondered exactly what it was she was expected to do.

"Ah! You know him too well to fall for that! He does mention you though… I guess you're friends…?" Isabel was as awkward as Petra, having never before met one of Levi's colleagues.

"Sort of." Levi looked to read Petra's face. The 'sort of' was completely genuine - Petra only took him professionally. That was both relieving and saddening.

Petra blinked back at Levi, noticing his stare. This brought Levi out of his daze as he decided to offer Petra dinner.

Dinner went well as Isabel and Petra treated each other as acquaintances. The conversation drifted about as Isabel revealed her job at a pet shop. At one point things began to click for Isabel. Levi inviting anybody to dinner after a month of knowing them was strange. When Isabel first moved in, she only got a monthly 'hi' for the first two years. 'Big bro' came on after five years.

"So you're the same Petra who was the secretary four years ago?"

"Yeah… you know about that…?"

"I joked about Levi being in love with her…"

"Shut up, idiot." Levi interjected. Petra smirked.

"He really doesn't talk about people, does he?"

"Yeah." Levi was a great common topic, except that he was in the room.

Soon dinner ended. Isabel gestured for a word with Petra, to which Levi gave a mixed look of surprise and disagreement. Yet, Petra followed her hostess.

"Listen," Isabel began as they entered and locked her room. "he loves you."

"Wh-" Petra couldn't understand whether Levi's odd 'sister' was testing her again or telling her the truth.

"Don't you dare hurt him." That suggested the 'genuine' option.

"How do you know he loves me?" Petra knew she was an exception in Levi's treatment, but wasn't sure if love quite covered it.

"He invited you for dinner! It took him two years to talk to me as his roommate!"

"But love…?"

"With all his other friends he does not care and try to act normal. He's trying too look like a good match for you."

"Ok… but can't he just…"

"Tell you?! I don't think he even knows!" Isabel paced the room and unlocked the door. "Just don't hurt him, even if you don't feel the same way."

As Petra left, Isabel handed her a card. "Here's my number! Just thought that I should be in the loop, if you ever need me!"

Petra reached her apartment, thankful for a lack of work. As she sat down on her bed, she found her mind returning to one phrase: 'if you don't feel the same way.' What exactly did she feel? Petra introspected. It came down a little war: either she loved him or she was pretending for his sake. But if she cared about him so much, then did she not love him? But did she not care about everybody in the same way?

Life when on. Neither Levi nor Petra moved their relationship to be any less professional - they were hardly friends by their actions.

That changed when they accidentally met at a mall. Petra planned on getting winter clothing and Levi was dragged there by Isabel's need for a car.

"Levi?!" Petra called out, startled by the unexpected presence.

"Hi Petra."

"What's up?"

"Nothing. You?"

"Just minor shopping." Levi nodded at the obvious statement.

"Minor?" Levi found himself asking a few seconds later.

"What?"

"You called your shopping minor. Why?"

"I don't have that much to get."

"Unfortunately with Isabel, all shopping seems major."

Petra smirked. "Where is she?"

"Beats me."

"You want to walk with me?" Levi looked blankly at Petra, gauging her reason and his best response. "You look quite bored on your own."

"Fine." Levi sighed and got up, wondering why he did.

After two hours of following Petra, Levi came not to regret his decision. Unlike Isabel, Petra was not into staring at clothes for fifteen minutes before leaving then changing her mind three times. Petra chose a few clothes, tried them on and within half an hour, left the store with what she liked. Much of her shopping was similar. By the third store, Levi found himself giving help with choices.

At the fourth store, as Levi was helping Petra compare two dresses, Isabel entered. "Hey Levi. Hi Petra."

Levi looked up, cursing his bad luck. Petra responded.

"Looks like you finally got up, big bro."

"Tch."

"And you're helping Petra?" Levi nodded slowly, not wanting to know where Isabel's line of questioning would point.

"Why have you never helped me!?"

"'Cause she's not annoyingly indecisive."

"Am not."

"Are too. Look at all the stuff she got in two hours." Isabel counted the four stores Petra had visited.

"So? Isn't all company and shopping the worst to you anyway?"

"And I made an exception."

Isabel shot Petra a look of I told you so. "Anyway, we can leave this 'horrible' place now."

Petra followed saying that she was done as well. Halfway through the walk to the parking, Isabel was snagged on a bag store. "Don't you want to join?" asked an annoyed Levi.

"My bag's perfect as it is, thanks." For some reason, Petra felt good that she was more likeable to Levi than Isabel was.

Fifteen minutes passed before Petra asked: "Can't Isabel drive?"

Levi mused for a minute before nodding and saying "Good point."

Levi handed Isabel his car's keys and left with Petra, thanking her profusely.

In the car, Petra finally let her curiosity gnaw its way out: "So why do you treat me specially?"

"Specially?"

"Apparently, the fact that we talk is a miracle and that was the first time you helped anybody shop."

"So?"

"Why me?"

"You don't … like it…?"

"No. It just seems out-of-character."

"Oh."

"So why me?"

"For some reason, I can't hate you."

"And?"

"With everybody else there's always some flaw. With you I don't know of one."

"So, basically, you think I'm perfect?" Petra said sarcastically.

"I don't know." Levi thought and searched for the best wording. "You're the best I've met so far."

"Thanks." Petra blushed at the deep, genuine compliment. Levi turned away, too engrossed in the thought of kissing her. Was this still the 'not-hate' he had towards her? It was becoming less neutral, slipping into a 'like' phase.


	4. Petra's revelation

More months passed. Days blurred until another one stood out of the regular mix. Petra had had to deal with regular pre-calculus students. They themselves were not a problem. It was merely that they did not care and that they only came into the course as driftwood, propelled by the inherently flawed school system.

A particular senior had gotten on Petra's nerves for not having completed homework ever. Thus, Levi heard an out-of-place angry tone from Petra's class saying: "Why do you think I assign this?"

After a silent murmur: "But you're failing!"

The half-exchange continued, Levi eavesdropping fascinated by an angry Petra. The student walked out and Levi entered.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"How's it going?"

"The usual." In Petra-talk, this meant bad. Levi didn't know why he knew that.

"Don't let one student annoy you."

"Thanks." Petra picked up papers. "How's our child doing?" Levi gave an odd look, happy not to have had a drink to splutter out. "BC."

"Yeah." He knew what she meant. "Just never expected anybody to say that to me." Petra smirked over the very awkward moment as Levi briefly looked at everything but Petra. "It's going fine."

And then Hange erupted in. "LEVI! OH MY GOD! I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN SO LONG!" Petra actually jumped.

"Hey Hange."

"Who's she?"

"Hange, Petra. Petra, Hange."

"Hi."

The conversation got boring until Hange yelled "WAIT! YOU'RE THAT SECRETARY!"

"Yeah…" Petra was amused at the impression she made on the district - even Erwin brought it up.

The conversation drifted back down. Hange and Petra reached the topic of Levi. This was interrupted by Erwin: "Hange, I thought we had a meeting."

"OH MY GOD! I am so sorry."

Petra muttered a reason to leave. As she turned, she noticed Levi muttering a reason to follow her, causing raised eyebrows in both Erwin and Hange.

The next day, after school (nearly 24-hours after), Petra learned the full import of the eyebrows. Hange entered alone and quietly. "Levi loves you." she said after all the niceties.

Petra couldn't help but blush. She had began to think of Levi as a friend, maybe a potential best-friend, and occasionally a little further. "Nothing to say?" Hange prodded.

"Well, his roommate agrees with you."

"As does Erwin."

"Erwin?"

"Yeah. I know. Who ever knew that man would think of such things?"

"Who ever knew Levi would have a friend?"

"Point. People are complicated."

Petra began to realize her own complexities. She couldn't decide how she actually felt about Levi. On the one hand, she fancied him her 'one and only.' On the other, they were barely friends. She was always some point on the line between these hands, occasionally slapped backwards by one of them. Was this love? Or was she in love with being in love? How could she tell? Did somebody else know her well enough? That's when the old 'squad' came in mind. Her old college friends - Auro, Erd and Gunther - could help her. They would meet Levi at the Christmas party she was having in a week.

Time warped until the weekend, when the squad converged. Petra invited Levi as well and allowed the others one guest. Erd brought his fiancee and Gunther brought Auro. Levi was forced to turn up late, letting the squad catch up on the past five months.

Soon, Levi entered. "Hey guys! Meet Levi." Petra did the four necessary introductions. Eventually the conversation came onto the one common topic: Petra.

"Avoid her when she's mad." Auro advised.

"That's 'cause you've seen that side of her the most." Erd retorted.

"So far, I've been fortunate not to have her mad at me."

"Well done."

"He does have an advantage as a clean-freak." Levi had commented on the apartment, forcing a quick explanation of his preferences.

"And, unlike you Auro, he's not annoying."

"Really?" Erd slyly asked. "I thought certain socially awkward people were annoying to you."

"I've learned."

Erd feigned pride as Levi asked. "Certain socially awkward people?"

"There were a couple of annoying people to teach. Even now Annie bothers me."

"Annie?"

"Reticent math-nerd." Petra explained to the guys.

"How exactly am I an exception?" Levi had to ask. He thought he was getting a regular treatment from Petra.

"I'll save that for later…"

"She loves you! Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Gunther began to sing the Beatles song. "She loves you! And you know that can't be bad…"

"Stop it." Petra yelled. "Since y'all wanted to know: Levi, you're not that socially awkward at all. You don't talk much, but you've never been rude - asked me to shut up or hated my friends. I barely knew you were awkward until after we became friends."

Levi obliviously shrugged as the guys nodded and smirked, knowing that Petra was lying.

After dinner, Levi left. Petra took the chance to ask: "So y'all think I love him?"

Auro nodded and the others joined in. "Is it… obvious?"

"Nah, you're fine. He probably loves you to." Erd reassured Petra.

"People think that."

"Hmmm."

"What, Auro?"

"Who thinks those things?"

"His roommate and Hange." Hange had been mentioned earlier.

Thus, Petra dropped into one hand of her thought: she was in love with Levi. The oddest part was how she scarcely realized it.

Her theory validated, Petra discussed a plan, with Isabel, to see if Levi loved her. Isabel confirmed the idea, rejecting the plan as Levi's love was obvious to Isabel. "So how do I get in a relationship with him?"

Isabel spewed ideas, too excited to stop - she'd never imagine anybody say this about Levi. Unfortunately, all the girls concluded with was Petra's: "I think I'll have to leave him to find out."

Petra began to realize her love for Levi. She spent too much time just looking at him or too much time think about him. She was definitely in love.

It became easier to think of it. All doubt was removed by her friends' verification. Now she was left to wonder. The only reason she needed the friends' opinions was because she couldn't guess on her own. Introspection, she thought, was a tool one used to further what one wanted to think of themselves.

In the end, she wanted a mathematical, logical, irrefutable proof and that she got. It was unfortunate that observation was necessary in the imperfect real world, instead of the imagination and irrefutable logic in math, but her proof was irrefutable and the more she thought of it, the more irrefutable it got.

Levi, on the other hand, did not live in the real world. He was separate. The only special thing about Petra was that she was a sort of conduit, connecting him to the real world. Because she fit in his world and the real world, Levi surmised, she was a necessary friend and there was no other way about it.

Yet, Levi was perplexed about his comfort with this thinking. Since when did a person - a mere mortal - become necessary. Had his mind forgotten that Petra was merely mortal? Did his mind cease to care? Why did he 'need' Petra? Why did he need to be connected?


	5. Shipping

Petra opened her eyes. She already knew she was sideways and that she was not on a pillow. Yet, exactly what she was on was unclear. Her arm, she sensed, was draped around the mystery object. The object was warm and covered in cloth. A person? She panicked, shoving herself off the person. She recollected, rotating, that Levi was the only person in her apartment - where she still was. There was no way the person was Levi. Levi was the most awkward with touching. Beyond handshakes, Levi did not touch anybody.

Petra looked at the person and noticed him tilt. He must have been Levi. Levi caught himself. He blinked and looked around.

"M-morning Levi." Petra tried.

"Hey." Levi adjusted to his and hoped that the night could be forgotten - physical contact was too far for their friendship.

"You want breakfast?"

"Sure." At least she wasn't making a big deal, Levi thought. Of course, Petra was making a big deal of this. It was the most contact Levi had had with anybody, and it was with her. Still, so as not to burst out of her fake shell, Petra focussed on cooking.

Levi wondered about the lack of reaction. Was his behaviour expected? They had touched more than was customary, surely. Petra would rest on his shoulder every so often and they held hands with 'reason' - they'd even stroked each other's hair. But sleeping… There was a level of trust which that required. A level which Levi never thought he would reach.

Petra served breakfast, a makeshift meal of toast and coffee. "So… we're friends right?" Levi asked. He convinced himself that he was nervous of being told he crossed some line.

Petra paused. She could concede and leave it at that or go after more. "Well… Friends don't normally fall asleep on each other."

"Then again, you were stressing too much before their AP test." Levi had a point. Petra could barely sleep for the fortnight before the AP test. It was the first time she had had this worry - this test, through her students', of her teaching ability.

"Still. Why did you let me… if we were just friends?"

"I was too sleepy myself - it's not like I don't worry."

"But still…"

"It's meaningless."

"Fine."

"Why do you want it to mean anything, anyway?"

"It's just… weird." Petra would not admit to be in love. Breakfast continued for a few minutes before there came a knock on the door. Petra went to open it and found her father.

"Dad?!" Levi's heart sank as he realized that he'd have to deal with a stranger. Then it sank further as he remembered his position.

The dad walked in. "Dad, meet Levi. Levi this is my father…"

"Mr Ral."

"Hello." Awkwardly, Levi finished his food and left, after all the necessary niceties.

"He's a colleague, right?"

"Friend, I would say."

"Fine." Mr Ral paused, looking at the plate Levi left. "Although, you're clearly not satisfied."

"What?"

"You love him, don't you?"

"Yes." Petra sighed.

"Don't do anything stupid."

"It's not like I can." Mr Ral looked inquisitively. "You did just see how sociable he was, right?" Mr Ral chuckled. Petra chatted on and soon it was afternoon and her dad had to leave.

"Great to know everything's fine!" Were his parting words.

Somehow, that evening, Levi ended up visiting. Petra had bought a couch - a loveseat, as much as she hated the name - as Levi began to visit very often and her single chair was becoming too little seating. They sat down next to each other forgetting the night before.

Petra rested on Levi's shoulder, a natural movement as she grew weary again. "Don't fall asleep this time." That earned a chuckle from under his jaw.

"I don't even know why I let you…" Levi said softly after a while.

"Maybe because I'm special."

"That you certainly are. But how much? And why?"

"I'm special." Petra tried and failed at a mocking tone.

"You're pretty much the only non-annoying person."

"You know, your shoulder is quite comfortable."

"And your head's strangely not annoying."

This time Levi left. Petra was happier - somehow he grew more and more irresistible. Petra dimly wondered if any of the students ever noticed. She overheard whispers of teacher-shipping in her BC class.

That Wednesday was the weirdest. The students were the usual drowsy but talkative bunch. That altered when Jean asked Petra: "So what is it between you and Mr. Ackermann?"

"What?!"

"He does seem more comfortable with you… even more than with Hange, who he's known for a while."

"We've had to work together a lot to make the course work…"

"But…"

Petra sighed. Jean knew better than to pursue his line of reasoning - he was right. "Just expect your teachers to be mature, unlike yourselves, Jean." With that, Petra explained vectors and how projections worked.

The week after was exciting. Improvising with the course, Levi and Petra had the opportunity to extend the curriculum and they would begin to discuss R3 spaces - three-dimensional graphing. After they finished the final, Petra planned for a party. She'd invited most of the math department to celebrate an addition to the curriculum. The BC course worked as none of the students could complain about anything on the test. Thus, this Friday, she waited to open her apartment to the math department and Hange.


	6. Hangover

Levi opened his eyes. Again against his shoulder was a warmth. Had he slept with Petra again? This time was worse - he was lateral, suggesting… In fact, he didn't even need suggestion - he knew. The head moved and let out a soft, contented sigh. Contented. Levi was doomed. She was contented. She was Petra! And this was why he could not have nice things.

"Morning Levi." She seemed so innocent. It was as if… and then reality hit. "Oh…"

"Never again, right?" Levi tried to sound casual.

Petra looked up at him. "Actually… I…" She slapped herself internally - the 'actually' forced her to say that she loved him. She had to anyway. "...love you."

Levi muttered some curses and looked down at Petra. Petra had turned, realizing the nature of his reaction and covered her face - lest she actually cry.

"Fine. Get dressed. Then I'll get dressed. We'll talk over breakfast, ok?" Petra managed. Then her face was unceremoniously covered by a pillow.

A minute later, daylight reappeared and it was obvious that she had been sobbing a little. Levi left her room. He knew better than to leave her apartment before breakfast - she was already dealing with the situation internally and would have a solution anyway.

Petra emerged from her room two minutes later, in a fresh tank-top and shorts. "Sad you had to wear yesterday's clothes." Petra had an odd detachment, but Levi figured it was her coping mechanism which he had best not touch.

Petra served breakfast and began conversation with: "So we're still friends." Levi nodded. "Tch." Petra figured out how to use that Levi sound and did it quite correctly, to Levi's satisfaction - imitation is the best form of flattery. "But then…"

"Can we put it behind us?"

"I don't think so."

"But…"

"You rejected me." Petra put more anger into her speech. "You can't just expect me to forget that."

"Does that mean that we can't…"

"No." Petra thought a bit. "I would be willing to pretend this never happened, on two conditions. First, that you never hide your love for me - if you know you love me tell me. I love you. Second, nothing more intimate than last weekend until we're in a relationship."

"Fine." Levi sipped his coffee. "And I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"I… we… it was protected, right?"

"Yes. No chance of you having to deal with me being pregnant. Happy?"

"I didn't mean…"

"Sorry, it's just annoying." Petra took away the plates. "I didn't mean it either."

"You really love me?"

"It's the only reason I forgive you, Levi."

"How?"

Petra laughed. For a minute or so, she couldn't keep composed. "How?! How do I know?"

"But am I not…"

"You're perfect."

"Really?"

"Yes. You've called me the same as well you know."

"I… I don't feel the same way."

"You wouldn't know even if you did." Levi looked around, opened and shut his mouth. "I'll just have to wait for you to figure it out."

"But how are you so sure?"

"All your friends think so. In fact, the fact that you're still sitting here suggests it. You haven't yet had me stop."

"But is that love? What if I'm just reacting to a person at a normal level."

"Normally acquaintances don't have sex."

"But what if I'm over-adjusting for…"

"Bullshit."

"Seriously. You're the only person I've come to not hate and…"

"What if your definition of not-hate is mine of love and I've been feeling the same way the whole time?"

"No way…" Levi couldn't believe he was in love. Petra had to be biased.

"I'll just wait for you to come to it."

Conveniently (Petra's attitude was making the hairs on the back of Levi's neck stand), Levi's phone rang. Isabel had called saying: "Where are you?!"

"I'll be there."

"Fine."

Levi hung up and told Petra of his need to leave. As he left, Isabel called up Petra. "Hey, do you know where Levi's been?"

"At mine."

"He slept over again?"

"Sort of…"

"What do you mean?"

"He didn't just sleep…"

"You mean… you and he… WHAT?!"

"Yes."

"But… he had… you… WHAT?!" Petra sighed. Isabel was being annoying. "Are you guys dating?"

"Nope."

"But he…"

"And then he said 'never again', so that was that."

"I'm so sorry it had to be that way... "

"Such is Levi."

"Stop pretending you're ok with it."

"I have to be. Otherwise we wouldn't even be friends at this point."

Isabel sighed, understanding the difficult position Petra was in. "I'll try to make him see through his stupidity."

"Thanks."

"No worries. With you, it's for his own good." With that Isabel hung up. Petra sat on her couch, sobbing every so often as she wondered why she'd ever had hope of a relationship. Did it even matter? They already spent enough time together.

As Petra slowly got over her rejection, Levi dealt with his loss of virginity as well. Levi drove to his house and parked the car. Instead of entering, however, he texted Isabel saying he'd be late and was perfectly fine. On the contrary, he was a mess. He re-evaluated his entire history with Petra, wondering how they got to this point.

Furthermore, as the conduit, Petra did have a great argument - what if Levi was wrong about this 'not-hate' he'd been feeling.

He walked around his neighbourhood wondering what to do. He reached a bar at a street corner and entered. He exited quickly after remembering two things: it was alcohol which got him in this mess and the whiskey was the color of Petra's hair. The latter was an odd point. If Petra wasn't special, why did he not notice Hange's hair in Burgundy?

He headed home, knowing that the status quo was the best and that friendship was all that was needed between him and Petra. The hair thing might've just been a human response to sex.

He entered and Isabel pounced: "Petra told me all about it! You asshole! You'd better apologize!"

"What?"

"You slept with her and then said 'never again'?! How could you?"

"I had to."

"Oh, really?"

"I don't love her - it's not right."

"Bullshit. You do love her!"

"No I…"

"Try lasting a week without talking to her! You'll see!" Levi mulled over this. Not talking to Petra for a week was physically impossible now.

"Shut up."

"Apologize. You'll need it more than she will." He did make her cry. That was entirely wrong. Thus, Levi did owe her something.

"I'll see."

"Just take her out to dinner or something."

"Yeah, fine." Levi did not want more of this and walked up to his room, shutting out the world. Thoughts of Petra still snuck in. Eventually he picked up his phone. He called Petra. He knew what he'd do. "Hey, you free tomorrow?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

"Meet me at the outlet mall at 1, where you met me."

"Fine… what are we…"

"Just be there, ok?"

"Fine. It's a date." That pun was entirely intentional.

"See you there then."

"Amazing." Petra hung up.

An eavesdropping Isabel burst in. "OH MY GOD!"

"Just leave." Isabel left, contented with her actions.

To Petra, time dilated. She couldn't help and predicted the warping. Next thing she knew, she was parking at the outlet mall and it was 12:50 on Sunday.

Petra found Levi precisely as she expected to. Sneaking up from behind, Petra tried to blindfold Levi in her arms - it was a little more affectionate than she normally was, but she did not care.

As she approached Levi, she was foiled by a "I know you're there, Ral."

"Hi."

"Hey."

"So… what's the plan?"

"Well… I thought I owed you something. What, I'm not sure of… so…"

"If this is about yesterday, please forget it." Levi looked startled, wondering if he could ever redeem himself. "The more I think about it the harder it gets."

"So… then…"

"Let's just pretend it never happened." Petra sat down at the table. "The only reason I'm fine with it is because I think you lied."

Levi opened and shut his mouth.

"Every one of your responses has helped."

"So I just keep.. being me...?"

"Yes." Petra smirked at Levi's cluelessness. "It's you I love anyway."

After a silence in which Levi wondered how Petra was so comfortable with being so reliant on him, Levi asked: "So what do you want to do?"

"Didn't you have a plan?"

"No."

"What?"

"I thought we would decide."

"Let's walk around for a bit at least."

Levi shrugged and stood up. Petra took his arm before she forgot that she was crossing a line. Levi didn't care. It was a line he would've let her cross anyway. She reached the friend limit in terms of interaction. That she ever crossed it was to be forgotten.


	7. Levi learns

The announcement was surprising and not good. "Please follow lock-down procedures immediately. This is not a drill." Petra could imagine Erwin's blank delivery reflected in his face.

As per procedure, the class hid under the desks. Petra clambered under her desk after turning the light off.

The seconds ticked away as the time which flew over the weekend stretched out to compensate. There were footsteps in the hallway - presumably a security guard. Petra looked for a 'weapon' in case the walker was not a guard. The dustbin was all she could find. Desperate not to look like a fool, Petra still clung onto the bin. The door slammed open - it could not be locked and now the school would pay for its negligence.

The lights flicked on. "I know you all are in here!" It was a young man, as always. From under the desk, Petra could see feet. They pointed away from the desk and towards the class. Luckily, the student's desks hid their occupants with a metal front casing.

"I will fire." Of course he had a gun - it was the beauty of the law. Petra had only one instinct. "One of your key purposes is the safety of the students." a professor's voice rang in her mind. With that fuel, she pounced from under the table. Holding the bin, she leapt the last pace across the room. She knew the shooter had turned. She hit the shooter and he fell with the empty bin covering his head. Petra grabbed the gun - some semi-automatic rifle. With the butt of the rifle, Petra struck the shooter, adrenaline turning into rage.

The class emerged. Most of the students could not react. The shooter was unconscious and Petra breathless. She stood up and faced the class. Mikasa spoke up. "Ms. Ral…" she began, pointing at Petra's abdomen. Petra looked down and noticing a spreading red.

"Shi- shoot." Registering the pain, Petra fell against the wall.

"The bullet did make it through…" Armin began, "it make a mark on the wall. So anyway…" he picked up Connie's towel and offered it to Petra.

"Hey-" Connie began. "You should probably have somebody else tie it around you." Jean said.

Petra tied the towel on and replied "it's ok."

At that point Levi and a security guard entered the room. Seeing the unconscious shooter, the guard spoke into his walkie-talkie. Levi rushed over to Petra, realizing her injury. "Lockdown is finished. All students and staff please report to the gym."

Petra handed a sheet of attendance to Sasha and said "make sure everybody gets to the gym." With that she passed out.

Levi carried her limp body to the gym. Students noted two things: it was Levi - the most unaffectionate person in the building - and he did not carry her as a fireman would, but bridal style in front of him.

Erwin met Levi in the gym as Levi handed Petra off to the medics. "Well, Sir, seeing as you are the only person here who knows her, why don't you come with us."

Levi glanced at Erwin and turned away, following Petra's stretcher to an ambulance. A medic gave him the hospital address, seeing that the ambulance would not be a suitable place for Levi. Levi also got a card to show to the ER people, stating that he had a purpose in accompanying Petra.

Levi drove to the hospital in record time. He reached the ER and was informed that Petra was stable, but at high risk. Her liver was shot yet still could recover, but if and only if it did not hemorrhage. Petra was unconscious and working through shock. The minimum recovery time was a month, but in a week she could be discharged.

If she did not hemorrhage. Levi called up Hange. "What's up shorty?"

Ignoring the annoyance, Levi asked "what are the odds of a liver hemorrhaging?"

"Hmmmmm… In Petra's case I'd give it a 50-50."

"What?!" He thought these were improbable.

"She did get shot directly through the liver, right?"

"How do you…"

"The way Armin described it, it sounded like it." Hange was a genius, as much as Levi hated her.

After a silence, Hange continued: "She'll be fine…"

"You just told me that she won't."

"She's a fighter, don't worry."

"Shut up." Levi hung up knowing to expect stupidity from Hange.

"School's off for the rest of the day. See you Monday. How's Petra?" Erwin texted.

"Ok. Might die." Levi did not have a way with texting.

"Don't worry."

"Not you too."

With that, Levi's phone left him alone. Unfortunately, his empty mind was a devil's workshop. The first thought was Isabel's words: "Try lasting a week without talking to her! You'll see!" A week? The universe now made lasting a lifetime without her possible.

Why did he need something so fickle as a person? Even through no fault of her own, Petra could disappear. In fact, it was her job. There would be twenty pairs of parents made happier by the survival of their child at the cost of a teacher. Beyond that, four grandparents, countless aunts and uncles, numerous cousins, a multitude of friends - all happy that Petra is in the hospital, not their child.

What of Petra's dad? Was all civilization such that some had to sacrifice for the many? Did Petra really have to put her life at risk because she taught and angry people could gain means of killing? Was that what humanity had worked for?

Why did he care? Levi had the fortune of being detached. He could view all in an unbiased seat, next to God, couldn't he? No. He was human. He was not the fair and impartial jury, in fact he should be the convict.

With this, Levi moved back in his timeline. What came before Petra? He liked math. He liked happy people. So, he had likings. Combining the two, Levi tried to make people happy with math. That was all addition.

Yet something had been missing. There were certainly sparks of momentary happiness. Yet, Levi had no motive. He became a teacher by the force of his logic. He did not fall in love, he decided.

Was that the key? That he did not decide? Levi looped through his acquaintances. All of them he decided on or disliked. With Petra, the liking came naturally. He did eventually analyse what he like. She looked good. She sounded pleasant. She was smart. She was passionate. She was strong. She knew when to shut up.

"Was." What will she be by the end of this?

Why was he so concerned? If Hange was shot he'd be bothered and sad, but musing so much and re-evaluating the world?

Isabel called. "Hey, why aren't you home?"

"Petra got shot."

"Wait." Isabel had read of a school shooting, but dismissed it. She re-read the school's name. "Holy crap!"

"I'll be back soon."

"Is she fine?"

"I don't know, I'll ask once more."

"Feel free to stay there, ok?"

"Fine." Levi did not intend to stay back - he thought Petra would be fine and he needed to straighten things out before a longer vigil.

Isabel had not hung up. Levi realized and asked: "What's up?"

"You alright?"

"What do you mean?"

"You love her, right…?"

"I…" Levi's train of thought had reached this station, but did not want to open doors and commit to it. Petra deserved better. "I… don't know."

There were noises on the other end of the line. Isabel's phone was going through the abuse of a lifetime. Isabel did not know whether to be happy Levi bothered to consider it or sad that Levi had to consider it.

As the noises died down, Levi commented: "And I had to realize when she dies."

"She's going to die?!"

"Maybe."

"Don't be so negative! She'll be fine!"

"Et tu Brute" was all Levi could think. "I'll check on her."

"You do that."

"See you."

"Bye."

Levi walked up to the reception. He stated his purpose and was directed to a room, followed by a doctor.

"She's fine. There's a small chance of her still bleeding, but other than that she is recovering well."

They reached the room. Petra was still unconscious, but breathing steadily. All the monitors were at a calm hum. Levi was struck by a feeling - a spark so sorts. His heart changed rhythm. His breath grew short. His eyes stilled. He was mesmerized by the sleeping body. He was in love. This was his falling.

"Well, as you can see, she's fine…" The doctor brought Levi out of his reverie.

"Thank you."

"If you do come back tomorrow, she'll probably be moved to a recovery ward. Here's the patient number so you can find her." The doctor handed Levi a sheet with numbers scribbled in the stereotypical handwriting.

"Thanks." With that Levi left.

After a sleepless night, Levi returned to the hospital. As the doctor predicted, Petra was in a recovery ward. As a nurse guided him to the room, Levi was informed that Petra had regained consciousness.

"Hey!" Petra lit up in a way Levi had never before noticed. It was as if everything about her was in a new light.

Before thinking twice, Levi leaned over Petra. He paused to see that everything was alright before kissing her.

It felt right. It felt perfect. It felt eternal. At some point, Levi pulled away. Petra smirked. "That broke the second rule."

"So you don't forgive me anymore?"

"Damn it. Of course I do… but..."

"Can we be in a relationship?"

"Sure." Petra was about to ask the same, but Levi beat her to it.

After standing around and looking at Petra, Levi asked: "So what does it entail?"

"What?"

"A relationship."

Petra giggled. "More or less everything we do and some more commitment and intimacy."

"That's it?"

"Yeah. What more can there be?"

"How are you?"

"Fine. It hurts and I can't move for the week, but that's about it."


	8. Epilogue

Jean hated the substitute teacher. Nobody knew this odd, annoying Mr Bossard who took over. His friends insisted that this was because of his pseudo-crush on Ms Ral. Thus, it was a pleasant change when the substitute did not show up to the classroom one morning.

Levi showed up. Everybody gulped, hoping not to have to deal with Mr Ackerman for a week. Instead of teaching, Levi directed the class downstairs. Was there an unannounced field trip? Too good to be true.

The students entered another room. Inside, they found none other than Petra.

"Ms. Ral!" The cheer went up. Nobody knew her condition for sure, thus seeing her well was a huge surprise.

Petra explained her condition, concluding that she could not stand or walk for the whole day. In fact her walking commute was her limit - she could barely stand after that.

The arrival of June saw her improving - she now barely noticed the pain, it only occurred when she bent down. At a regular check-up, it was determined that her liver was fully healed and the flesh and skin was all that was left - a process of roughly two weeks.

The final exam for the course was made and preparations to celebrate a year of BC began. Levi and Petra were invited to the state teacher's conference to present their course design for BC and Petra was invited to deliver a speech on school safety.

"So what do you feel about the whole shooting thing?" Levi asked the evening after they received the invitation.

"Feel?"

"Doesn't it bother you?"

"Yes. It bothers me a lot. I mean I did nothing and I still got shot. I could've died!" Petra had been hiding some rage over the issue.

"Sad, isn't it."

"Don't tell me you don't feel bad about it!"

"I do. It's just that caring doesn't help. Prevention does."

"Fair point."

"Anyway, you'll get to sob about it on the press."

"I hope I don't have to come across as a damsel in distress."

"Knowing the state…"

"Unfortunate."

"I'm pretty sure you could decline."

"Or I could write my own."

"We'll see."

"I'll do that. I'll write one."

"Have fun."

Thus, Petra began to write her speech. It took the fortnight she had for her to make it.

After grading the finals, Levi and Petra left for the conference. It was a far away four day affair.

They'd left their bags at the hotel and headed off directly.

At her event, Petra was introduced and welcomed with applause. She began her speech:

"Thank you everybody. I would like to start off with my condition, since everybody is curious. I'm fine. I've been healing perfectly and now am at the point where you can pretty much just see the scar.

The speech I was originally given had a lot on how to be safe and how I did everything perfectly but was unlucky. That is a lie. I did not follow the rules. I ran at the gunman and that is why I was shot. I am lucky to be here.

Yet the message of the speech remains - we as teachers exist, in part, to create a safe learning environment. That I believe is all I was trying to do. I'm quite sure I succeeded. Thus, all I really want to say is that we, the teachers of high school, should not standby but proactively follow the safety rules of the school.

Since nobody else is doing anything about this issue, at least schools should implement safety regulations. The shooter made it to my classroom - upstairs, through a corridor and past many a place where he may have been apprehended. Yet he was not.

This is why we should keep a check on who is where within the school. This is why we should be much more secure.

Thank you." Petra left with an applause and much relief. None other than Darius Zackly greeted Petra offstage.

"Well done Ms. Ral."

"Thank you, Mr. Zackly."

"I must say, that was precisely what I had in mind."

"Thank you."

"I wonder if you could help me spearhead this in congress…"

"Thank you Mr Zackly, but I would prefer to stay where I am right now."

"It's fine. Have fun and get well soon."

"Thank you." Petra stayed courteous although Zackly did mess up a detail - she was well.

The rest of the day was boring. There was an ironically boring seminar on interesting the students and keeping a class engaged. After a quick, formal lunch, Levi and Petra found their way to a presentation on applied math in life. That was also mundane, but better than the other session.

At night, after a dinner date, Levi and Petra entered their room. To their surprise, there was only one bed in the room. "I'll get another…"

"Chill, Levi, we'll sleep together."

"Wha-"

"You're my boyfriend. Come on."

Levi hesitated. "It's not like we'll do anything - it will be like the night on the couch."

Levi did not know how relieved he really was. "Fine."

"Did you want to-" Petra began coyly.

"Nope."

Petra opened her bag and made sure everything was in order. "Do you want to shower first - actually, whatever, I'll shower in the morning."

With that, Levi took his things to the bathroom, where he changed. Petra changed outside.

Life would be interesting if it went on in a similar fashion, Petra noted. She was in love and he loved her as well. Before long, they would become closer and eventually actually live together, she dreamed. She did not know how much Levi shared that dream - if he was not as secretive, they would have been discussing the color of the walls of their own house and the names of their children.

(AN: Sorry if you were not satisfied.

Note on my publication (especially if this is not my first work you have read - thanks for the loyalty): I publish after finishing stories - I find the plot better developed that way)


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